David Segovia prepares a takeout order at Nopalito restaurant in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Business at Nopalito is up 5 percent from last year which is beating the national average, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

David Segovia prepares a takeout order at Nopalito restaurant in...

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Restaurant manager Tasha Martin assists Tony and Judy Lepe at Nopalito in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Business at Nopalito is up 5 percent from last year which is beating the national average, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

Restaurant manager Tasha Martin assists Tony and Judy Lepe at...

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An order of Machaca de Camaron is ready to serve at Nopalito restaurant in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Business at Nopalito is up 5 percent from last year which is beating the national average, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Forecasters say restaurant revenues will reach record levels in 2012 - jumping 3.5 percent over last year - while the industry's employment numbers return to what they were before the recession.

It's a fry cry from the blues local restaurateurs were singing a few years ago at the peak of the downturn, when their revenues plummeted as low as 40 percent and Bay Area eateries were closing at nearly twice the national average. But experts here say San Francisco is now on target to meet the national sales numbers - and maybe even beat them.

"As our nation slowly recovers from the economic downturn, restaurants continue to be a vital part of American lifestyles and our nation's economy," said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association, adding that the country's nearly 1 million restaurants are expected to post record sales of $632 billion this year.

The national trade association calculates that the industry will employ nearly 13 million people in 2012, adding jobs at a percentage point above the projected 1.3 percent gain in the nation's overall employment. The group said the restaurant industry is the second largest private-sector employer.

Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the association's research and knowledge group, said the industry started experiencing a gradual comeback in 2010 from the previous three years, partly fueled by employment rates.

Although employment among all sectors isn't expected to get back to pre-recession levels until 2014, more jobs are being filled. Employment rose by 200,000 jobs last month alone, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency is scheduled to release new numbers today.

"Restaurateurs here are reporting that the last quarter of 2011 was their best in years," said Rob Black, executive director of San Francisco's Golden Gate Restaurant Association trade group. "We may actually be better off than the rest of the nation. We're ahead of the trend as far as economic activity. Office vacancy rates are below pre-recession numbers. And there's a high occupancy rate in hotels and conventions. All this bodes well for our restaurants."

In addition to the economy, Riehle attributes some of the comeback to the abundance of convenience dining now available.

"Our research shows that two-thirds of restaurant business is take-out - home delivery, drive-through or curbside pickup," he said.

Jeff Hanak, co-owner of Nopalito, a popular Mexican restaurant on San Francisco's Broderick Street, said he's definitely seen his take-out business take off.

"For to-go lunches and dinners we've seen a 6 percent increase in check averages," he said, adding that while tickets for eat-in diners haven't increased, the number of customers visiting the restaurant has.

"Our dinner service sales are up 5 percent in January over the same month last year," he said. "Lunch is up 4 percent."

Business has been so good that at the end of last year Hanak hired an additional bartender and added a sous chef and a manager. In March he's planning to open a second Nopalito in the Sunset and expects to hire 60 employees for that restaurant.

Hoss Zare, of Zare at Fly Trap, a Persian restaurant in the South of Market area, has recently had to add employees - a chef, line cook, prep cook and another server - to keep up with business. Zare opened his restaurant in 2008, in the thick of the recession.

"People laughed at me and said, 'Are you crazy?' " he said.

He managed to hang on with special meal deals and by cultivating a core customer base. But in 2011 he saw a distinct change in his business.

"Customers started buying slightly more expensive wines," he said. "Before, they were either sharing appetizers and desserts or cutting them out entirely. But now they were not only ordering individual appetizers and desserts, they were ordering coffee drinks and after-dinner drinks."

His average check surged 10 percent higher and the bar increased by 15 percent, he said. By year's end he had grown sales by 14.6 percent over 2010, he said.

"Now I'm seeing a lot of requests for private parties," he said. "People just seem happier."